10.13.2006

Swift Injustice To This Military Lawyer Indeed

Besides my screwing up his last name, I wrote earlier this week about Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift (not Swift), whose brave attempts to properly represent a Guantanamo Bay detainee led to the Bushes telling Swift he could only file a guilty plea for this detainee. (Legal rights? Not with the Bushes.)

This case in turn led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that said Bush's military tribunals and handling of detainees is just patently wrong.

To "thank" Lt. Cmdr. Swift for his adherence to the Constitution and Habeas Corpus (around since the year 1215 and hardly something U.S. law invented), the military has effectively forced him out. Swift appeared on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC just now and I found myself applauding his every word.

Swift is a great lawyer in the great tradition of the very best of our system of jurisprudence. We must always seek justice for the least of us.